Short Orders

Live and Local

Whenever I visit Hong Kong,
I like to take one of the ferries to an outlying island. Cheng Chau is
just 30 minutes away and the small harbor still has photogenic Chinese
ships. The few seafood restaurants only use ingredients that are live,
from finfish to scallops, crabs to spiny lobsters. It is possible to
find live seafood locally, although not of this abundant variety.

The
best selection is at William Ho’s (3524 N. Oakland Ave.). Many patrons
whisk through the lobby to the buffet tables in search of live
lobsters, tilapia and Dungeness crabs, all of which are very fresh and
lively. When Ho’s first stocked live seafood, the choices also included
geo-duck clam, eel and abalone. Those options may be gone, but this is
still a top pick for lobster. It’s effortless to eat: No shell cracking is required, and chopsticks will suffice.